Mauritanians vote in first step towards democracy

NOUAKCHOTT – Mauritanians took their first steps towards democracy yesterday by voting in parliamentary and municipal elections which test the willingness of their military rulers to relinquish power after a bloodless coup last year.

Power has never changed hands through the ballot box before in the impoverished Islamic republic, which straddles black and Arab West Africa. Some voters cautiously hailed a new beginning.”This vote is going to change things a little,” said taxi driver Boubacar Sall.”Mauritanians understand now it is not the president who has all the power, it is the people.”Short queues formed at polling stations in the dusty capital Nouakchott as voting began slowly.Some 1,1 million Mauritanians, or just over a third of the population, are registered to vote in Sunday’s ballot, which prepares the way for the military junta to hand over power through presidential elections in March.Many black Mauritanians expressed hope the polls could challenge the dominance of Mauritania’s lighter-skinned traditional Moorish elite, which holds power in Africa’s newest oil producer.”I have passed my exams and I speak Arabic well, but I can’t get a good job, because of this,” said Billal Ould Simbara, a night watchman, touching his black skin.Twenty-eight parties are competing for 95 national assembly seats.Nampa-ReutersSome voters cautiously hailed a new beginning.”This vote is going to change things a little,” said taxi driver Boubacar Sall.”Mauritanians understand now it is not the president who has all the power, it is the people.”Short queues formed at polling stations in the dusty capital Nouakchott as voting began slowly.Some 1,1 million Mauritanians, or just over a third of the population, are registered to vote in Sunday’s ballot, which prepares the way for the military junta to hand over power through presidential elections in March.Many black Mauritanians expressed hope the polls could challenge the dominance of Mauritania’s lighter-skinned traditional Moorish elite, which holds power in Africa’s newest oil producer.”I have passed my exams and I speak Arabic well, but I can’t get a good job, because of this,” said Billal Ould Simbara, a night watchman, touching his black skin.Twenty-eight parties are competing for 95 national assembly seats.Nampa-Reuters